A Wizard Among Sorcerers
by King Under the Mountain
Summary: Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, known as a failure of a mage that can only make things explode, finds herself summoning a being that is much more of an expert in the art of destruction than she is! Warning: May contain smartass remarks and creative D and D related curses. There will be a romance at some point, but I'm not giving it away here...
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights for either Familiar of Zero or Dungeons and Dragons.**

**A/N: This is my first cross-over story, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. I hope you enjoy this, I know I enjoyed writing it.**

**Note: I made an adjustment to the size of the Baldrick's crew and armament. Based on the size of ironclads like the USS Cairo, these things were huge and could hold a lot more people than I originally thought. The ship itself looks like the USS New Ironsides, but just a bit smaller and with only two masts. The crew numbers about two hundred, and the ship has ten cannons instead of eight. There are also twelve heavy ballistae and fourteen light ballistae now.**

Prologue

Off the Coast of the Shield Lands

"Prepare to fire a port broadside!" I shouted over the booming of the cannons and general din of combat. Evanger, my second-in-command and former apprentice, repeated the order on the other side of the vessel. I had to free up a hand from the wheel to push my rain-drenched hair out of my eyes.

The crew of the _Baldrick_ scrambled to reload the guns and ballistae on the left side of the ship, while the archers peppered the enemy ship's deck with arrows and crossbow bolts. Evanger joined in on the distraction with his own longbow. The tasks of all, most of all mine, were made more difficult by the storm raging around us.

I hurriedly ducked as an arrow zoomed past, right where my head had just been, and lodged itself in the door to my cabin. I grimaced as I kept an eye on the waves and sails. Just half an hour before, we were on our way to meet with the rest of the fleet. But we were attacked by a trio of ships, armed to the teeth and manned by motley crews of orcs and other monsters. The lead ship was a large three-mast galleon, and the supporters were a pair of smaller single-mast galleys.

They learned the hard way that ambushing an ironclad warship, captained by an experienced navigator wizard, was not a good idea.

Crewed by nearly two hundred men and women, the _Baldrick_ was a large ship, and it packed a punch. Of the crew, there were ten priests of Murlynd, one for each of the warship's ten cannons. Because gunpowder only worked in the hands of the priests of the god of technology, they were absolutely necessary. Two additional crewmen were assigned to each gun to speed along the reloading process. To complement the heavy artillery, there were twelve heavy ballistae and fourteen light ballistae on each side of the ship, manned by two artillerymen each. There was also a heavy catapult. However, due to the range it was not in use.

Within ten minutes of the attack, one of the enemy warships was already sinking to the bottom of the sea and a second was barely able to move, leaving only the galleon to face us. Unfortunately, there must have been a powerful druid on the third vessel, as they conjured up a storm to hamper us. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't do more than make sure that my own ship did not sink. Most of the spells I had memorized were for ship to ship combat, not combating nature.

Now we were dueling with the remaining ship in the pouring rain. Bolts of lightning struck my ironclad more than once. The enemy had more crewmen and had a larger vessel, but my ship was more durable than my foe's and more heavily armed. I watched several men get injured by snipers on the opposing ship. As soon as we were in range, I barked, "Fire broadside!"

The five cannons on the port side roared as they discharged their shots, smashing large holes into the enemy hull. The ballistae raked the deck, spearing any foe that was too stupid to duck. My archers took their hands from their quivers and chucked over flasks of alchemist's fire, which exploded and set the deck ablaze. Evanger muttered the words to a spell and unleashed a blast of sonic energy directly at the main mast. The large wooden beam snapped like a twig and toppled over backwards, taking one of the secondary masts and most of the sails with it. A cheer went up from the crew of the _Baldrick_ as they watched the mast crush a pair of ogres.

Judging from the chaos on the enemy ship, the captain was killed during the broadside. I used that chaos, plus a favorable wind, to make our escape. The wind of the storm whipped my cloak and robes around and caused my chainmail to jingle as I surveyed the damage. Because of the ship's armor plating, the damage to the hull was limited to some scratches and burns from the lightning. None of my crew had died, but there were more than a few wounded, which were already being attended to by the priests.

"Get the wounded below deck, we're going to spelljam the rest of the way," I ordered. I had been trying to avoid doing it until it was absolutely necessary. I _really_ hated spelljamming.

Kaj, drenched and unhappy, crawled up onto my shoulder as I settled into the enchanted chair. Taking a deep breath, I plunged myself into the magic. Theoretically, any spellcaster on board could do this. But it takes a navigator wizard to do it _well_ and not crash into anything. I could feel the power of each spell I had prepared for the day start to drain away as the magic did its work, starting with the most powerful.

The ship began to rise out of the water before lurching forward, at a much faster pace than would have been possible in water. I saw the crew begin to relax and start coming out of their battle-hype. I found that I could not join them.

Now in tune with the powerful magics that made spelljamming possible, I became aware that something was wrong. I could hear a young woman's voice chanting a spell, though I could identify neither the source nor the language. And so, I ignored it for the next thirty miles. That should have been my first warning. The next was a sudden burst of arcane energy. Before I could react, a green portal opened up in front of the _Baldrick_.

Before being drawn in, I remember thinking that spontaneously opening portals tended to be a bad thing.

* * *

Magic Academy of Tristain

Louise watched the result of her fifth attempted summoning with trepidation. As everyone had expected, an enormous explosion rocked the courtyard. Black smoke poured out from the circle, obscuring it from view. Panic and desperation filled her mind as she desperately tried to see what was inside of it, if anything.

The petite girl was almost at her wits end before the dark cloud started to dissipate. Inside, she could hear someone coughing and shouting something, though in no language that she knew.

By now, the smoke had cleared enough for Louise to see. A man stepped out of the gloom, still trying to clear his lungs of the smog. He was about Professor Colbert's height, with long brown hair and a short goatee of the same color and grey-blue eyes. Dressed in a set of red robes, she could vaguely see the shine of silvery chainmail underneath, all secured at the waist by a heavy leather belt. The wind whipped the bottom of his white cloak around. On the belt rested a well-used battle-axe, a crossbow, and a pistol, as well as a pouch about the size of Louise's head. All of which was drenched, as though he had just come out of a storm.

But what caught her attention was the stern look in his eyes. It reminded her of some of her teachers, the "you are going to learn what I have to teach even if I have to cram it down your throat" kind. They also seemed empty and tired, like he had seen too much in his young life. But there was also a sense of determination to keep going despite that.

With a start, she realized that he was probably younger than Wardes, no more than twenty-eight years old. For a second, Louise thought he looked older than Osmand.

With a confused look on his face, the stranger looked around at everyone before asking something in a strange tongue. His audience's confused expression made his turn to one of frustration. Understanding the irritation, Professor Colbert waved his staff and chanted before asking, "Can you understand us now?"

The man nodded, "Perfectly. Judging by the fact that you just cast a translation spell, I assume that you are a mage, that these are your students, and that I have just been summoned."

Professor Colbert nodded, "That would be correct. And you are?"

"My name is Auren Janten, of the Shield Lands navy," He winced, "And I will say, that was likely the most startling way to cross to another plane that I have ever experienced."

* * *

I scratched the back of my head. This was the first time that I had been summoned. Usually, it is supposed to be the other way around. I suddenly found myself possessed of much more respect for the elementals I occasionally called in for help.

As far as academies for magi go, this one was…bright, to say the least. The castle in the background that I assumed was the academy was gaudy. There is no way that it would be practical against an invading army. I didn't even see any ballistae on the walls. Then again, it's a school full of magi. Not a lot of armies would go up against that willingly.

All of these people were mages. I'd never seen this many in one place before. Iuz's forces had done a good job of clearing the Shield Lands of its Shield Mages, and other arcane practitioners. They were all accompanied by an assortment of creatures, from a flaming lizard to a floating eyeball. I saw a blue dragon of all things. Unconsciously, my hand started moving towards my axe. I managed to stop it before I caused an incident.

I looked at the balding man, "So who summoned me?"

"Miss Louise de la Valliere here did," the teacher replied ushering forward my summoner.

For a moment, I could only stare. Pink hair. And pink eyes. That should not be physically possible outside of some demons. Now that I think about it, a lot of these people have strange hair colors.

Apparently I had a dumbfounded look on my face, as hers went red. She looked like she had seen around ten winters, though compared to the ages of the other students, I would guess her age to be about sixteen or seventeen.

"So, why have you summoned me? What guidance do you need or what do you need blown up?" These seemed like pretty standard questions for someone who has just been summoned to ask. I was tempted to offer a fake Faustian bargain, just to see if I could get away with it.

One of the students in the back, a well-endowed red-headed girl with dark skin, busted out laughing, "The Zero summoned a commoner that likes blowing things up. A match made in heaven!" The crowd around the hazer joined in on her mirth.

My summoner's face started to get red and redder. For a moment, I thought she would spontaneously combust. If she did, I would have had to track down some vellum and a quill and record the event, as I have yet to see such a thing occur without the use of magic.

The teacher was the first to respond after he managed to quiet the crowd, "This is the Springtime Summoning Ritual, where the students summon their familiars."

I had to blink and interrupt, "I'm sorry, familiars did you say? And you intend me to become one? But humans can't become familiars, it's absurd!" Before I could go on, I felt something with sharp claws crawl up my back and latch onto my shoulder. Miss Valliere stared dumbly at it, along with the rest of the class. When I turned my head, my gaze was met by a small scaly face, "Oh, there you are Kaj. I was wondering if you had gotten lost in transit." I looked around for a moment, "Kind of like what seems to have happened to my ship."

I shook my head, "Anyway, back to what we were discussing. So wh-" I was stopped by Kaj growling at me. He didn't like it when I ignored him. Sighing, I fished around in one of the pouches in my robe and pulled out some dry-ish meat, which I gave to the cat-sized dragon, "There, now shut up." He puffed a bit of smoke into my face, but otherwise stayed quiet, "Okay, so what is this business about me becoming a familiar?"

"A familiar is a lifelong companion for the mage that summons it. Usually, it is some form of beast that reflects the mage's elemental affinity." The mage adjusted his spectacles, "Summoning a human is extremely rare."

"How rare?" I asked, curious.

"Only once," he looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped himself, "But we should finish the ritual."

"As much as I would love to help her out, I have a ship to find and a war to finish. So if you could kindly send me back?" I honestly did feel bad about this.

"We can't."

"What?" I said more than asked.

"We have never had to send a summoned creature back, so we have never researched a method of how to do it," the teacher replied.

"But…all summoning spells have a time duration. There is no such thing as a permanent summons." I should know. I've tried. Got pretty damn close too.

I turned to look back at the circle, hoping that maybe by studying it I might find a way home. Unfortunately, my explosive entry completely demolished it.

Well, there goes that avenue.

During this entire conversation, I can see Miss Valliere's face fall, and she looked to be on the edge of crying. Damn it, I felt horrible about myself. Fine.

I sighed, "Alright, I'll go along with it. For now." She still looked disappointed though. Ungrateful brat.

"So how do we finish this Springtime Ritual?" I inquired.

At that, my summoner's face lit up again. I got the feeling that this was going to become extremely awkward. She looked back and forth between me and the teacher, "Do I have to do this Professor Colbert?" Wench! I was being nice and helping you out, and this is how you show gratitude?!

"Yes," the now-named teacher stated. Louise pouted, but shuffled forward.

She beaconed for me to lean down, as she barely came up to my upper arm. So I did. Then I got a bit surprised. From that day forward, I started trusting my gut instincts.

"Be grateful. Not many commoners get this honor," Louise de Valliere then kissed me straight on the lips. As soon as it was done, she backed up, and the jeers started again.

This time I ignored them as I started to smell something burning. That something turned out to be my left hand. Removing my gauntlet, I stared as runes started carving themselves onto my skin. However, the magical brand that was already there remained untouched, to my disappointment, and the new one simply formed around it.

Both Colbert and Louise watched, fascinated. Louise asked, "Doesn't that hurt?"

I shrugged, "It probably should, and I should be rolling on the ground screaming in agony. But after an incident regarding a magical obelisk and a necromancer cult a few years ago, I don't feel pain."

Louise's jaw dropped, and Colbert was too busy scribbling away in a notebook to take notice of my declaration.

"It makes getting healed a bit difficult, since I don't know if the injury gets fixed completely." I shook my head, "Anyway, can I find somewhere to rest? I'm exhausted."

Colbert snapped his notebook shut and nodded, and then turned to dismiss the others. The rest of the class waved their wands and took off into the air.

My jaw dropped this time. Such blatant misuse of magic! If they tried that in the Shield Lands, they would have at the very least been subjected to some disciplinary action.

Not to mention the fact that the females among the group were wearing very short skirts. I immediately turned my eyes away. I am no pervert.

* * *

By the time we got back to the academy, the sun had already set and I had finally dried off. I had started to regret not having any spells usable for land-based movement memorized. Or any spells at all, really. That spelljammer really took it out of me. My "Master", as she insisted on me referring to her as, looked like she was going to collapse.

I was starting to get an idea as to why she was called the "Zero," guessing by the fact that she didn't fly back like the others.

On the way, I grilled her for information about the place I was summoned to. By what I had been able to piece together, this was basically an academy for sorcerers. A contradiction if I ever heard one. And mages being nobility? A good idea in my opinion, but used far too often.

Again, I say this is a gaudy piece of demon shite of a castle. My people would have deconstructed this place and built something more useful. I mean come on! There weren't even any enchantments on the outer walls or even professional guards patrolling them! And that gate wouldn't hold up against a drunken ogre!

We finally trudged into Louise's room, but I immediately noticed a problem. There was only one bed.

I pointed this out, "We're not sharing the same bed, are we?"

"No," she said, her haughty attitude becoming apparent, "You're sleeping over there."

I followed her finger to the other side of the room, where a pile of hay sat. I stared at it, trying to will it to become a comfortable bed. It did not.

There are times I wish I was a priest. Then maybe somebody would help me out.

My right eye twitched slightly, "We will discuss my living arrangements at a later time, when I do not feel like a member of the living dead."

"Fine," the little mage huffed, "But first, do my laundry."

I was suddenly finding it much more difficult to keep my reaction to just an eye twitch.

* * *

Five minutes later, I found myself wandering the halls carrying a basket full of women's clothing. I sincerely hope no one takes this the wrong way. Or that Lyall never finds out. This is one of many things that I will be taking to my grave.

Although I am grateful that I managed to convince Louise to wait until I was out of the room to change.

Of course, none of this is helped by the fact that I am utterly lost. Thanks to my training as a navigator wizard, I always know which direction is north. Which does not help me in the slightest since I don't know where the Asmodeus-damned washroom is in this labyrinth of an academy! And none of my scrying spells are prepared either, so magic is out of the question.

As much as it hurts my pride as both a navigator and a man, I was forced to ask for directions. I gave a silent prayer to Murlynd when I found a member of the staff. A strangely dressed maid, by my guess. Then again, everyone here was strangely dressed to me.

When I approached her, she was apparently so distracted that she didn't notice me.

"Excuse me, miss?" She nearly jumped straight out of her skirts.

"I-I'm sorry milord, I didn't notice you!"

I tried to calm her down, "It's alright, and I am no lord."

"Oh, I apologize. You're Miss Valliere's familiar, correct?" I managed to still any of my usual reactions to such a question. It was just an innocent inquiry by someone who likely didn't know any better.

"I was summoned, yes. But I still refuse to be called a familiar. My name is Auren Janten," I responded, trying to keep as much of my dignity intact as possible. The fact that Kaj was sitting on my shoulder snickering was not helping matters. I flicked his gold-scaled head, causing him to hiss at me, "And you are?"

"Siesta of Tarbes," She stated.

There are times where I wish had something a bit more simple for a familiar than a dragon, mainly because they do not possess vocal chords capable of speech or, in this case, laughter. But when a fully grown gold dragon allows you to take one of its eggs to serve as a familiar, are you going to say no?

The maid giggled at our antics, "Who is that?"

I gave a mental suggestion to Kaj to hop over to her shoulder, "This is Kaj. My adventuring troupe and I helped out a dragon a few years ago, and they let me take one of their eggs. Cheeky little bastard, but he's useful. He's nice enough, though watch your fingers when he gets hungry. The teeth aren't for show."

Poor Kaj didn't know what was about to happen. One moment, he was settling onto the maid's shoulder. The next he was in Siesta's arms and pressed against her admittedly impressive bosom. I swear the little bastard was giving me a smug look.

"Kyaah! He's so cute!" She squealed. I think I saw Kaj's eyes bug out a little bit when she squeezed harder.

I smirked, "Don't give him too much of a big head, he's difficult to deal with regardless. Anyway, try telling him that when he gets to be the size of a barn."

Siesta paused, "He's going to get that big?"

"Yep, or at least he will in a few centuries. He only hatched two years ago. There are some kinds of dragons that can get to be about as big as this academy if they get old enough."

I nearly busted a gut when her eyes became about as wide as saucers. She shifted her gaze from Kaj to me and back.

"You talk to him like he is one of us. Why? Dragons aren't sentient." The maid asked with a tilt of her head, the small dragon still nearly suffocating in her bust.

Kaj glared up and puffed smoke at her. I chuckled, "We're from another world, as I guessed from the presence of two moons rather than one. Where I come from, dragons are extremely intelligent, a lot of them more so than most humans. Kaj here is an infant by their standards, but from the…" I wasn't quite sure how to explain the relationship between a wizard and their familiar, so I went with a simplified term, "bond he has with me, he is much smarter and more mature than he would be normally at his age. He is also capable of speech, he just usually chooses not to."

By now, Kaj was starting to squirm in Siesta's grip. She gently released him, and he quickly skittered back up on to my shoulder. The small dragon gave a wide-mouthed yawn and curled around my neck, promptly falling asleep. For the record, my familiar doubles as an excellent, if slightly uncomfortable, scarf.

Following up with my own yawn, I asked, "Could I ask you to show me to the washroom? I need to do my "Master's" laundry before I can hit the sack."

Siesta smiled, "Of course. I'll help you do them, too."

"I can't ask you to do that, I'm sure you have other duties to attend to."

"Nonsense, I have some free time. Besides, I'd like to talk to you a bit more. You seem like you have had an exciting life," Her smiled was just so innocent.

I found that I couldn't deny it, "Very well, you have swayed me. Lead on."

* * *

When we got to the washroom, the first thing I did was put down the basket and take off my robe. It would just get in the way. Siesta was looking at, trying to figure out what it was made of.

"That robe is made of dragonhide," I answered her unspoken question. Her eyes immediately darted to Kaj. I shook my head, "There are two categories of dragons in my world: Chromatic dragons and Metallic dragons. Chromatic dragons are further divided based on their color: Red, Blue, Green, Black, and White. Metallic dragons are divided into Gold, Silver, Bronze, Brass, and Copper."

I continued, making sure I had her attention, "Chromatic dragons are evil creatures, usually found in our stories and histories as the marauding beast attacking villages. My robe came from the hide of a Red dragon that I helped slay."

"But what are the Metallic dragons, their opposites?" Siesta asked, now enraptured.

"Precisely," I nod, "Just as Chromatic dragons are beasts of evil, Metallic dragons are creatures of good. Occasionally, they aid the lesser races against evil forces, mainly on principle or in the service of Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon. Kaj is a Gold dragon."

"You never mentioned Platinum among the types of Metallic dragons."

"That is because Bahamut is a deity, not a living dragon. He is also the only Platinum dragon to have ever existed."

"But, Brimir is the only god!" The maid declared.

"Maybe here, that is true. But remember, I come from another plane or dimension, where the presence of these deities is very well known and recorded," I pointed out, "I myself have seen one such deity intervene in a conflict."

"You have multiple deities?" She was starting to get slightly distraught and confused.

"We have dozens, different pantheons for different races. Before I go on, you must understand how rare it is for a god to personally interfere with mortal affairs. The gods of my world try to keep a balance, none of them trying to directly affect the world too much. There are exceptions, of course. Usually, they work by providing some power to their priests or certain warriors, who then work in their patron's name. Thurizden, god of madness, had to be sealed away because of his refusal to follow this rule, as well as for his destructive tendencies," I took a breath and slid my gauntlets off of my hands, "Oerth would have been destroyed long ago had he been allowed to do as he pleased."

I picked up the first piece of clothing to be washed, which turned out to be a shirt. Alright, nothing too bad. I immediately went to work cleaning it by hand. Siesta silently joined in, though she had a skirt in her hands.

Deciding to switch subjects, she started along a new line of inquiry as she scrubbed, "So what did you do in your homeland?"

I gave a wry smile, "Originally? I was a scholar. But when I became old enough, I was pressed into the ranks of the military. I became a soldier and sailor, and eventually a navigator. My specialized knowledge was useful in dealing with some of the more esoteric situations. In the Shield Lands, everyone is a soldier, or was one. We had lost our home once, and we were determined not to lose it again."

Siesta's eyes drifted to my chainmail and axe, the former of which was no longer concealed by my robes. I smirked, "Trophies and rewards of long campaigns. I took the axe from an orc I slew, and kept it ever since. The mail was a gift from when I entered the service of Lord Rendor."

"You are an armsmen in the service of a mage?" She set the skirt to dry and started on some undergarments. I thanked Murlynd that I didn't have to do it.

I shook my head, "Not quite. In my world, nobility is not determined by magical ability. In some places, those with arcane talent are actively hunted down. No, there are three ways that a person can be a noble. First, they are born into it, and inherit all of the titles and land. Second, they marry into a noble family. This one is a bit uncommon, as the nobles prefer to marry among their own. And the final route is to be knighted." I shrugged, "Though I assume that is the same here, outside of being a mage. I myself was born a commoner."

"So you are a knight?" I could see where she drew that assumption from.

I laughed and moved on to the next garment, "Great Murlynd, no! I am not a knight. I was merely sworn to a lord in exchange for patronage. I used to work in more of a combat support role, but then I moved on to captain my own ship."

My expression quickly turned to a frown, "If only I could find my ship and crew. They came through the portal with me, but we got separated."

"What was your ship like?" Siesta asked. I could see that she was trying to cheer me up a bit.

My smile returned as I pictured the vessel in my head, "The _Baldrick_ was a twin-mast galleon, coated in iron plating. It was one of the larger ships in the Shield Lands navy and one of nearly half a dozen ironclad warships under the command of Lord Jarleth Stalitzer. It had a crew of nearly seventy people, many of them friends. Between the armor and the armaments, we could take on any single ship that we came across on the open sea."

"But I thought you were sworn to another lord?"

I held up a finger, "Lord Rendor and Lord Stalitzer are allies, as are all of the members of the Lords' Council. Stalitzer is the commander of the main navy, while Rendor controls the expeditionary forces. So technically, they are both my superiors. Understand?"

Siesta nodded her head. When I reached for the next piece of clothing, I realized that there was only one left. I quickly looked to the ones that I had cleaned and the ones that the maid had done. To my embarrassment, her pile was a good deal larger. I took pride in getting my work done fast, even if it was demeaning.

"You work fast," I remarked.

"When you work for an entire academy full of boys and girls who refuse to do their own laundry, you have to work quickly so you don't get overburdened," She beamed back.

I narrowed my eyes, "It's not just you doing all of this work, is it?" If it was, I was going to have a stern talk with the management. And by "stern talk," I meant a lightning bolt or two to scare the living crap out of them. It would not be the first time I had seen the staff mistreated.

She held up her hands and shook her head nervously, almost as if she could tell what I was going to do if I was correct, "No no, there are others."

"Oh," I grunted. Yep, Sir Eloquence right here. If I kept going for much longer, I might spring for Lord Eloquence. I scratched the back of my head, "Umm, well thanks for the help."

"You're welcome," Dammit, why does she smile so much?

"Before I forget, could you tell me where the library is? I'd like to take a look tomorrow morning," I asked as I slipped my robe and gauntlets back on. It would make it a lot less awkward when talking to people if I actually knew some of the history.

* * *

Siesta was happy to give me directions. Afterwards, she excused herself. So then I found myself wandering the halls yet again, holding a basket of laundry that was not mine.

I heard some voices coming from up ahead. Poking my head around the corner, I saw a pair of students, one boy and one girl. The girl was pretty enough, but it was the boy that gained my ire.

First, he was dressed in a shirt with enough frills to put most bards to shame. Second, he was spouting off worse pick-up lines than Lyall. Third…

I just disliked him. He reminded me of some of my bratty students back in Kritwall, mostly the ones from noble families. So full of themselves, and learning how to warp reality. There are times I wonder if a peasant uprising wouldn't be such a bad thing, if only just to get rid of them.

Is it a bit sadistic that I got some twisted pleasure from breaking them of their arrogance?

I decided to walk off right after I heard the boy say, "I cannot lie in front of your eyes." There are only so many bad lines I can stand.

* * *

After about half an hour, I finally made my way back to Louise's room. I wasn't surprised to see her already flopped out on her bed, snoring contentedly. I quietly set the basket down as I walked in.

I frowned when I looked at the pile of hay that she insisted that I use as a bed. I shook my head and reached behind me for the scroll case strapped to my back. No way was I sleeping on that.

Digging around inside of the extra-dimensional space, I grabbed the one I was looking for. Placing my scroll case back, I unfurled the scroll and whispered the words written on it. On the bare wall in front of me, a softly glowing door materialized. I smirked.

I never leave home without a scroll of Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion.

Sparing one glance back at Louise, I opened the door and stepped inside. As soon as the door clicked shut, it turned invisible from the outside.

**A/N: Alright, done. I'm amazed that I wrote this much. This prologue is already twice as long as most of the papers that I have written this semester. Oh well, Review Please. **


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with the next installment of Wizard Among Sorcerers. I saw that there were some questions among the reviews, so I'll try to answer them to your satisfaction.**

** changhyon92: I guess you could say that he is. Auren was my wizard character in the Shield Lands Campaign, which if you didn't know was in the Greyhawk setting. We had a lot of fun with it, and Auren is my highest level character to date.**

** Lael Harrington: Auren actually isn't a dual class. He is a Wizard/Navigator Wizard/Archmage. Mithral armor just has a really low arcane spell failure chance, so he wears it for the protection. The axe he just kind of picked up as a trophy. He prefers to use either magic or his crossbow.**

** Everybody else: Everybody is asking about reactions and lack thereof to Kaj being there. It's not that there weren't any reactions, it's just that Auren wasn't paying attention to them. He pretty much has the attention span of a rodent when it deals with things he isn't interested in. Not to mention low Wisdom score.**

**Also, the thing about him being so quick to become Louise's familiar? I'll explain. Aside from needing the help finding his crew and ship, there is also the fact that this is the same guy that walked up and touched an obelisk enchanted with necromantic magic just to find out what it did. Then he went and found some others. Again, low Wisdom score.**

Chapter 1

I groaned as the alarm spell I had set suddenly blared in my ear. No matter how many times I use it, it never gets any more pleasant to wake up to the sound of a gong being rung next to one's head.

Pushing back the covers, I swung my legs out and swiftly stood up. The floor was cold against my calloused feet. Kaj squeaked as I moved and scrambled up my back to settle onto his usual roost. I was still dressed in my clothes from the previous day, minus the armor and robe. As light as mithral is, it's still not comfortable to sleep in. The two items, plus my cloak and the rest of my gear, were hanging on an armor stand provided by the magical mansion. Next to it was a lit hearth and a chair.

Ah, Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, if only if I could make you permanent…

Rather than immediately put on my equipment, I directed my attention to the three unseen servants standing outside of the open bedroom door.

"You," I pointed at the first one, "Draw up a hot bath." I shifted to the others, "And you two. Prepare breakfast. Two eggs, a bit of cheese, some bread and butter, and a glass of wine."

The wispy outlines that indicated where the creatures were bowed in response before scuttling off. As always, I was extremely grateful for their presence, even if they never remembered me or my preferences when I summoned them. Still feeling slightly drowsy, I cracked my back and shuffled over to my equipment. Removing the bag from my belt, I opened it and immediately plunged my entire arm into it. Gotta love the Bag of Holding. Searching around for a moment, I found my prize and removed it.

My spellbook. Or at least my first one. I had managed to exceed the number of pages in a single book nearly a year before, so I had to carry around three with me to utilize all of my spells. I've only part-way filled the second book, but it is always a good idea to have a spare. As I grab the last book, my hand brushes up against a familiar object. I pull it out along with the book.

It is a brown sack, half as large as Kaj. I frown as I stare at it.

The very last Spellpool seed, recovered just before our battle with the mad sorcerer Wakunis and the destruction of the original Spellpool of the Arcane Order, also known as the Shield Mages. When the opportunity arose, I was supposed to plant it in a secure location and aid in the reconstitution of the order. It was one of the last hopes of completely reclaiming the Shield Lands from Iuz.

With the constant struggles in the War of Reclamation, I had never gotten the chance. I've carried it with me for nearly three years now. It is among my greatest secrets, kept from even my closest friends and allies. No living being except for myself and one other Shield Mage know that it even exists.

And so, I would continue to wait.

With a sigh, I placed the Seed back into the Bag of Holding and pulled the drawstring shut. I walked over to the chair and sat down, basking in the heat of the fire for a moment before cracking open my first spellbook.

* * *

And so Louise dreamed, of adventure and secrets.

_She watched as the dreamworld shifted and changed, until she was looking at the inside of a dilapidated tower. At six stories tall, it was an impressive building, even in its ruined state. The center of the building was hollowed out, and each floor was ringed around it. At its center, a pool of green-blue energy swirled and twisted up to the ceiling of the sixth floor. Louise stared at it, entranced. Even though she was supposedly a failure, the diminutive mage could feel the sheer arcane power radiating from it._

"_What is this place?" She wondered aloud, her eyes never leaving the light, "And what is this?"_

_She wanted to reach out and place her hand inside of it, but something warned her away from that. Her gaze was forced downwards by an unknown force, into the pitch-black at the base of the light. As her eyes adjusted, Louise could see the hunched form of an elderly woman crouching before the pool, facing away from the entrance._

_Suddenly, the door burst open as six figures rushed into the room. Thanks to the light from the doorway, she could easily spot her familiar among them, though he looked noticeably younger and was dressed much differently. His robes were a dull brown, and he wore no armor, though he still had his white cloak. She could see several scrolls peeking out of his backpack, though it was mostly covered by the enormous greataxe strapped to it. She also noticed that his tiny dragon was conspicuously missing, instead replaced by a raven cawing obscenities._

_The others were strangers though. The first man through the door, dressed like a dockside scoundrel, seemed to be the one in charge as he immediately pointed and shouted, "Ralos, Kurgan, close the door and bar it! Lyall, get up on the second floor and shoot anything that gets too curious."_

"_Aye, sir," They all answered simultaneously._

_The two directed to the door were a large blonde man in heavy armor, wielding a maul, and a short black-bearded creature, similarly armored, with an axe and shield. They had the door secured in seconds._

_The third man was a lithe figure wearing a set of chainmail covered with leather and a hooded cloak, with a longbow in hand. With a grace that Louise didn't think was possible in a human, he bounded up the steps and took up position at the nearest window._

_The only ones remaining were her familiar and another squat bearded one. The latter seemed to be wounded. He set his warhammer down, clutched his amulet, and started chanting. An instant later, his wounds started to heal and he moved to tend to the others._

_Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. That thing was a water mage?_

_The leader beaconed to her familiar, "Auren, how are we doing on supplies?"_

"_We still have some healing potions, sir. But Ceran is running out of healing spells and I'm down to some alchemist's fire and my crossbow," Auren shook his head, "It took almost everything we had just to get here. I'm concerned about our escape."_

_The crone gave the familiar a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "Let me worry about that, soldier."_

_Auren gave a hesitant nod, "Yes, ma'am."_

_The leader frowned, "Well, I still have some spells left, but most of them are defensive." He jerked his head towards the light, "But for now, let's figure out what to do with that."_

_The younger soldier looked at it with awe, "The Spellpool. Never thought I would get to see it in person."_

"_You and your unit will be the last to see it as well," the woman remarked, "We need to destroy it. But first…" Her hands reached into the bag strapped to her belt, pulling out a small sack, "Take this with you."_

_The commanding officer's eyes were glued to it, "Is that what I think that is, Agatha?"_

"_It is, Gregory." Agatha shifted her attention back to Auren, "I'm entrusting this to you, boy. Keep it safe. You'll know when to use it."_

_Being as high up as she was, Louise couldn't get a clear look at it. The soldier nodded and carefully stowed it away in his backpack, "You make it sound like you aren't coming with us, ma'am."_

"_Because I'm not. Whoever is the one to destroy the Spellpool will be consumed by it," She gave a wry smile, "Besides, I'm too old to be much use to the war. This is a time for the young." Her head snapped to the left, "The tower defenses are down."_

_Before anyone could say anything else, Lyall shouted from the second floor, "Get away from the door!"_

_Ralos and Kurgen dived away just in time to avoid the boulder that came crashing through the rotted wood. Gregory spun around, "Where in the Nine Hells did that come from?"_

"_Giant, sir," Lyall replied, his bowstring snapping again and again, sending a hail of arrows outside. The angry roars of the giant shook the foundation of the already fragile tower._

"_Well, take it out then!" _

"_On it. Big bastards take a while to go down!" Through the opening, a horde of hairy, pig-like monsters started pouring through. Orcs, nearly a dozen of them._

_The first ones in were not fortunate in the slightest. Louise flinched and looked away as one was decapitated when the large warrior's maul smashed into its face. Apparently, there was some enchantment on the weapon because when it struck, a concussive blast instantly killed the next in line as well. _

_The short bearded man sliced through the leg of his first orc with his axe's wicked edge. The creature was finished off by the water mage's hammer and both of them moved on to the next._

Ker-thunk._ A crossbow bolt lodged itself in the chest of one of the orcs. Louise's gaze went back to Auren, who was hurriedly cranking a windlass to reset his crossbow. A final roar, followed by a thud, from outside confirmed the giant's fall, and Lyall shifted his aim to closer targets._

_There was a flash of light, and then a wild-looking old man in tattered black robes appeared. The manic gleam in his eyes sent a shiver down Louise's spine. It spoke of both power and madness in equal measure, wrapped into a single being._

"_Wakunis," Gregory growled as he stepped towards the enemy mage, then he called back, "Agatha, start the ritual, I'll hold him off for as long as I can."_

_And so began one of the most terrifyingly powerful and short spell duels that the little mage had ever heard of. The man in black immediately began chanting, lightning crackling around his fingertips. Gregory seemed to be waiting for him to complete the spell. Louise stared slack jawed at both of them. Wandless magic?!_

_With a mad cackle, Wakunis extended his left hand, from which shot out a bolt of lightning. Louise gaped. It was more powerful than any that Viscount Wardes could conjure, or at least looked that way. _

_Gregory burst into action. As he started his own incantation, Louise noticed that some of the energy from the pool branched out and gathered in his hand. Then he unleashed his own electric lance, countering his foe's attack perfectly. As she looked away, she could still see the flashes of light as the battle continued._

_Turning her attention back to her familiar, she saw him briefly give the black-robed mage a hateful glare, but did not intervene. Instead, he continued his attack against the orcs. Reaching into a pouch in his robes, he pulled out a small glass container, which he immediately threw into the opening._

_When it smashed against the stones, the container exploded, coating every orc in a fifteen foot radius in spontaneously combusting liquid. Louise was glad that she couldn't smell anything, but was disgusted regardless._

_Of the original twelve orcs, only two remained standing, though they were quickly cut down by the warriors. As the last foe fell, the rest of the group turned to face the mad mage. _

"_Gregory, move!" Agatha cried, and she unleashed her own arsenal of spells. The blue-green energy of the fountain started to surround her, and she started blasting. Missiles of force, rays of heat, fireballs, and lightning bolts all slammed into the sorcerer. _

_Then, the light started to drag her towards the Spellpool. Using what Louise assumed to be the last of her strength, she charged Wakunis, grabbing him by the wrists and head-butting him square in the chin. _

"_You're going down with me, you bastard!" The injured mage obviously disagreed and struggled mightily._

Thwack!_ An arrow struck the balcony of the third floor. Louise noticed that it had a rope tied to it, which lead back to where Lyall was positioned. Standing on the ledge, the archer held the other end._

"_Is he going to…" Louise didn't get the chance to finish._

_The soldier jumped, swinging on a straight path towards Wakunis. Hard leather boots slammed into the mage's back, pushing him off balance and into the pool. Lyall tumbled to a stop just before he almost went in as well._

_Louise watched in horror as both mages disintegrated before her eyes. Lyall scrambled to his feet as the Spellpool reacted. All of the energy of the pool started to condense into a small black orb. Both Auren and Gregory's eyes widened, paling visibly. They simultaneously shouted, "Run! Back to the ship!"_

_As fast as each of them could, all of the soldiers bolted out of the tower, no doubt into a waiting army of orcs and other monsters. Louise had no idea why they were running._

_Mostly because she didn't know what a Sphere of Annihilation was. But she could tell it was deadly when it began to expand outwards, eventually engulfing her._

The mini mage bolted straight up. She rubbed her head, "What was that all about?" She then noted that she was covered in sweat, and gave a disgusted sigh, "Familiar, go get someone to draw a bath."

Louise blinked to full wakefulness when no answer was forthcoming.

A quick look around the room confirmed that her familiar was, indeed, gone. One could almost see her anger manifesting as a dark cloud above her pink-haired head.

* * *

The book made a quiet _thud_ when I closed it quickly and put it on top of the pile I had already skimmed through. That was book number seven. They weren't quite what I was looking for, but it's a start, and some of them had some interesting tid bits. I fidgeted with my amulet as I sat back for a second. The metal scarab on the string wriggled and stirred at my touch.

At this early hour of the morning, I was the only one in the library aside from the librarian herself. I preferred not to be bothered when I was reading, as some of my apprentices found out to their despair. I learned quickly that finding my to the library back home before the sun rose was a wise choice if I wanted to avoid the little pricks.

I got a bit irritated when I had to use a scroll of Comprehend Languages to read the damn things, though.

I sighed. I think most of my frustration came from not being able to find my crew. I tried scrying them after breakfast, but it came up black. Same for the ship.

Picking up the next book, I took a quick look at the title. _The Founder and his Familiars_. I raised an eyebrow. Maybe this was exactly what I was looking for.

I had gotten a hint as to what to research when Colbert had said that a human summoning had only occurred once. Something like that would obviously be famous, and who is the most famous mage in this world?

Sadly, not me. Some guy named Brimir, apparently.

And so, I found myself reading through as many books as I could about the man. Most were just fairy tales with little in the way of usable facts. Don't get me wrong, there were still a few kernels of truth, but nothing that I could use until I found out the whole truth. Unfortunately, some things get lost to time, so that may be a hopeless endeavor. After all, this Brimir fellow lived about six thousand years ago. That's old, even for magic.

And speaking of old, this book looked like it was about to fall apart. I gently opened the cover and started reading.

Brimir…blah blah blah…Greatest mage ever…blah blah blah…Waged a crusade against the Elves.

Smug bastards probably deserved it, with their sense of racial superiority. Elven students were almost worse than the nobles. Almost.

Their supposed "natural affinity for magic" wouldn't stop me from blasting their asses all the way to Arvandor and back. Natural talent, my ass!

Ahem. Now where was I? Oh, right. Crusading.

Let's see, ascended to godhood…What I wanted to know is who sponsored his apotheosis. None of the gods from my home plane seem to have any holds on this one. Maybe I could find out later.

"Yaddah yaddah yadd- Oh," I stopped and actually read more in depth, "Here it is."

_Gandalfr, the Left Hand of God, master of all weapons. This familiar possessed a complete understanding of the use of any weapon and would defend Brimir while he cast his Void spells._

_Vindalfr, the Right Hand of God, master of magical beasts. This familiar could take command of any beast._

_Myoznitnirn, the Mind of God, master of all magical items. This familiar possessed a complete understanding of how to use any magical item._

_Lifdrasil, the Heart of God, master of magic. This familiar possessed a massive amount of mana and could transfer it to Brimir to power his spells or its own._

Well, I could count out at least three of them. The brand on my LEFT hand was a pretty obvious indicator. Turning a few pages, I found a sketch of the familiar markings for the Gandalfr.

I removed my left gauntlet, and frowned at the skull and bones brand. The runes had blended seamlessly with it, and looked like it had always been there. Looking back and forth from the book, I confirmed that the new ones matched up.

Making sure not to damage the already ancient-looking book, I set it back on the table and rubbed my eyes. Kaj stirred and looked up at me with one eye open.

"Things may get a bit strange, Kaj," I told him. The tiny dragon gave me an incredulous look, "Alright, stranger than usual. Probably not by much though. I don't think anything can top that one mission where we were sent back in time."

He nodded in agreement. After all, that's when I had gotten his egg.

Now that my research into the familiar business was finished, I picked up a general history book. While I read, I let my mind drift off a bit to consider other matters. I was perfectly capable of thinking of multiple things at the same time, benefits of being a wizard you see. All of those complicated calculations that you have to do simultaneously to cast even the simplest of spells don't give you much of an option otherwise unless you want your Magic Missile to blow up in your face or summon some random horrific demon to start rampaging through your tower.

If you're laughing about that last part, then I'll have you know that has happened to one of my students before. Thankfully, it was just a few imps. The little buggers made a hell of a mess though. Saul was cleaning the laboratory tower for three weeks afterwards. The _entire_ tower.

Afterwards, we all swore never to speak of the event ever again.

Anyway, while I was reading and trying to memorize some basic information about Tristain's history, I was also analyzing the magical properties of the runes. So far it seemed pretty simple.

Despite all of the hype surrounding the summoning ritual, the binding wasn't all that powerful. It was actually much weaker than my own bond to Kaj. I'd even go so far to say that it was a slightly more powerful version of the Geas spell, with some side benefits thrown in for my case. I also found a sneaky little compulsion spell, or at least it was trying to be sneaky. When you've dealt with things like locating demi-plane entrances or crafting homunculi, small stuff like that is easy to find.

Fortunately, the compulsion was weak enough that it wouldn't affect me unless I allowed it to, which I wouldn't. I was almost insulted by this._ I_ could make a better compulsion effect than this, and I have!

Before I could do much more pondering, I heard a set of stomping feet and a very recognizable shriek, "FAMILIAR!"

Sighing, I snapped the book shut and quickly cast Invisibility. I vanished just before a certain pink-haired mage rounded the corner, followed by an irritated librarian.

* * *

After I managed to sneak away from Louise, I was wandering the halls of the academy. I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. I slipped into an empty hallway and dismissed my invisibility before continuing. It wouldn't do for me to randomly become visible again in the middle of a crowd, especially one comprised of sorcerers. Who, as I have learned over the years, are rather trigger-happy with their magic, particularly when they are surprised.

So, I ended meandering towards what I assumed to be the dining hall. The courtyard outside of it was a literal menagerie. All of the familiars that I had seen yesterday and more were milling about. And I had suddenly gotten the feeling I was being watched.

I soon found out that I was the subject of study for a curious dragon big enough to completely crush me under its bulk, its face in a comically serious expression. Cautiously, I started speaking in Draconic, "_What is your name?"_

Apparently Draconic is universal no matter what the plane, as the dragon reared back its head in surprise. Before I could ask "what in Tiamat's scaly tits is going on?" I was immediately being crushed by nearly two tons of dragon muscle. Normally, my ever-present Shield spell would have protected me from hostile action. However, I don't think that affectionate glomps count as "hostile action," unless it was coming from a Hezrou demon.

Kaj frantically dove off of my shoulder and fluttered away as fast as his wings could carry him. I managed to wheeze out, "Traitor!" But it proved unnecessary, as the larger dragon caught him and drew him into the embrace as well. The tiny gold dragon expressed his discomfort loudly.

"Kyuu Kyuu!" Kyuu? The odd sound was produced by a distinctly female voice, though one of a child, "_I'm Irukuru_!" Irukuru froze, then put her "hands" in front of her mouth, which thankfully released us from the crushing hug, _"Kyuu, Irukuru wasn't supposed to tell you that or talk to you. Kyuu, I couldn't stop because I was so excited that you talked with the Dragon language. Kyuu Kyuukyuu, Big Sis is gonna get mad at me. Kyuu, please don't tell her._"

I found myself laughing at her antics, "_Don't worry, I won't. My name is Auren by the way."_ I poked a thumb towards my familiar, "_This is Kaj."_

Kaj was currently clinging to my cloak, keeping me as a barrier between himself and the other dragon. He snaked his head over my shoulder and puffed smoke at her. He was still too young to breathe fire, so it wasn't all that intimidating.

Irukuru large eyes locked on to him, "_He's so tiny…"_

"_He's much younger than you are. He only hatched two years ago-" _I was interrupted by footsteps.

"There you are, familiar."

Ah crap. She found me. I nodded to Irukuru, "We'll finish this later."

As I was walking towards the fuming Louise, she raised her wand and shouted, "Fireball!"

Just as she said, an explosion went off directly in front of me. Fortunately, my Ring of Counter-spelling activated and dispelled it, stopping it before it did any damage to me or Kaj. When the smoke cleared, I was most certainly not amused. I made my disapproval known through an irritated glare. She seemed shocked that I was unscathed.

"H-how?" My "Master" stuttered, taking an involuntary step back.

"First, my name is Auren, not familiar. You _will_ use it," I snapped. Absently, I noted that I had shifted into my stern teacher mode. Unlike Lyall, I was no master of diplomacy, and even I had a patience threshold, "Second, where in the Hells did you learn manners? The only place that I know of where you greet someone with an explosion to the face is Darinka. Three, that was most certainly_ not_ a fireball. And in response to your question: My secret, that's how."

I fixed her into place with a renewed stare, "Now Louise, would you like to explain, or should I just assume?"

Behind me, Irukuru was now leveling a glare of her own. I wasn't sure whether or not I should find it comical or terrifying.

"I-I-I…Y-you weren't in my room w-when I woke up, s-so I thought you had run away!" Her bluster all but gone, I was actually starting to feel bad about this. Not enough to stop though.

"You realize that I am a living being capable of independent and complex thought, right?" With each word, Louise seemed to shrink more and more.

She only nodded in response. Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair and looked up at the sky. It was mid-day, "Go get lunch, I need to go calm down."

I didn't see or hear her reply as I walked off.

* * *

I was starting to think that there is a compulsion effect on the hallways. I kept finding myself in them for some reason or another. Taking a deep breath, I think I managed to push out the last of the irritation.

Hearing a familiar voice ahead, I looked up to see Lord Frilly-Shirt from yesterday, along with who I assumed were his friends. I smirked as I briefly wondered if he had to fight the frills for dominance. There was a slight clatter as something fell out of his pocket.

Sir Frills didn't seem to notice and kept on walking. Being the polite man that I was, I picked it up. Oddly enough, it was a perfume bottle. Why a man would be carrying around perfume was beyond me, though considering the way he dressed I was not entirely surprised.

"Hey, you dropped this." I called to him. He took a brief glimpse back, but then went back to ignoring me. Alright, maybe he thought I was talking to someone else, so I raised my voice a bit, "Oi, blondie. You dropped this!"

One of his buddies looked though, and said something about the perfume being made by someone name Montmorency. I didn't really remember the name of the girl from the previous night, but that certainly wasn't it.

The noble didn't even turn around. That was it. My right eye twitched, "HEY FOP, CATCH!" With that, I chucked the bottle at the bastard. I have never been very good at reigning in my temper, though I have found that my aim is generally proportional to my anger.

To my surprise and amusement, it smacked him in the back of the head hard enough to make him stumble and fall. Amazingly, the bottle stayed intact and rolled away. I'll admit I was impressed. I considered seeking out the crafter and permanently hiring them.

Then everyone in the hallway froze. The fop's friends helped him up, though he was still quite dazed from the impact. He was able to shake it off soon enough, "How dare you, commoner!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," I smirked, "It was no less than a two-timer deserves."

"Guiche, what does he mean by that?"

The noble quickly whirled to face the newcomer. Like the other girl, she was pretty for her age, though I don't think I will ever understand her choice in hairstyle, "Absolutely nothing, dear Montmorency. After all, I cannot-"

"Lie in front of your eyes?" I snorted, "At least vary your lines. You used the same one last night."

"You told me you were bonding with Verdandi!" Montmorency screeched.

"Sir Guiche?"

Uh-oh. This was going to get nasty. For him.

"Uh…Katie, w-what are you doing here?" Guiche asked nervously as the now-furious brown haired girl approached.

_SMACK_! The sound resounded throughout the hallway as both girls slapped him before running off.

Again disoriented, Guiche fixed his gaze on me. I knew where this was going, "You, you're responsible for this. You made two ladies cry."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Then, pray tell, why are you the one with the handprints on your face?"

The noble's face went red with equal parts anger and embarrassment, "I challenge you to a duel!"

I didn't provoke him, no sir. I certainly didn't goad him into challenging me. That would just be terrible. And wrong. And no, I didn't need a training dummy to wail on. This was all a coincidence. I was framed. Really.

I felt my mouth tug open into a fierce smile, baring my teeth. This was going to be fun, "I accept. Where and when?"

"The Vestri courtyard in fifteen minutes," Guiche was starting to get his arrogance back, though he was obviously unsettled by my eagerness.

My grin stayed in place as I taunted, "I hope you have an extra pair of trousers on hand, because you're going to soil them."

As Guiche stormed off, the crowd around us parted to allow Louise through.

"Familiar, what are you doing?" She grabbed my hand and started dragging me forward, "Maybe we can still apologize to Guiche and call off th-"

I snatched my hand out of her grasp, "First off, what did I say earlier about my name?" The tiny mage winced. I gave her a reassuring pat on the head, "And I'm not going to lose to that fop. Just watch."

I looked around and found one of Guiche's friends was still there, "Hey, which way to the Vestri Courtyard?"

* * *

The wind was blowing in the courtyard, which I had to admit, made my entrance all the more impressive. I think the main reason that wizards wear robes is so that they can catch the wind in just the right way.

As soon as I walked into view, the crowd gathered around us started jeering at me. They thought they were going to see a noble beat down an uppity commoner. Oh how wrong they were. Kaj leaped off of my shoulder and flew up to the branches of a nearby tree.

I could see Louise easily. Her hair alone stood out. But I also saw Siesta, who looked like an absolute wreck. I gave both of them a disarming grin before facing my opponent.

"So you are brave after all, commoner," Guiche remarked, "Though your intelligence leaves much to be desired."

I kept my smirk to myself. This idiot had no idea who he was talking to.

Brandishing his rose wand, he dropped a single petal onto the ground. From that, a single construct sprang up, shaped like a female warrior made out of bronze, armed with a spear.

My first thoughts were to wonder if this was a golem. I mentally shook my head. No, it was assembled too quickly. More likely it was a weaker version of the mightier golems from my home plane.

"I am Guiche de Gramont, and my runic name is the Bronze. This, my Valkyrie, shall be your opponent!"

"What, Guiche? Are you going to have a woman fight for you?" I laughed a bit at my own joke. I really did find this funny. All that smugness, and he wasn't going to even fight his own battles, "And only one? You'll have to do better than that."

Snarling, the blonde boy dropped down three more petals, raising three more constructs. These were armed with a sword, an axe, and a warhammer.

I clapped my hands together, "That's better." I bowed, "You have brought forth your champions, now let me call mine."

I didn't register Guiche's confused expression as I delved into spellcasting. Arcane words left my mouth as I moved my hands in the complicated gestures required. With a burst of power, I shouted the trigger word to the Summon Monster spell of the fourth tier.

The very ground beneath our feet rumbled as a hand half the size of my entire arm shot up out of the earth, along with the rest of the limb. Slowly, the creature pulled itself out of the soil. Standing at a towering nine feet in height, the rocks that made up its skin ground together as it moved its shoulders.

Two more followed soon after, though they were only three and a half feet tall. The taunting from the crowd had stop in an instant. Apparently, they had never seen earth elementals before. All three looked to me for their orders.

"_Destroy the constructs, but leave the boy alone,_" I stated in the rumbling tongue of the Elemental Plane of Earth, "_You may devour the metal."_

They did not question the orders, nor did they hesitate. With a mighty roar, the largest elemental charged. Its left hand snatched the closest Valkyrie off of the ground. To the horror of everyone watching, Guiche especially, a mouth full of jagged rock teeth opened up where its head was. The construct understandably struggled, but its spear snapped against the monster's hide. The creature bit off the head of the golem before shoving the rest of it down its throat. Its other hand slammed down onto the next Valkyrie, the sword-wielder, reducing it to pieces, which were also soon devoured.

The smaller elementals, lacking the sheer strength of their larger counterpart, tag-teamed the third. When the construct tried to fight back, its weapon could not penetrate their skin. The first elemental took a bite out of the axe, while the other slammed into the Valkyrie's legs, toppling it. Then they descended upon it, each bite reducing the construct more and more.

The last Valkyrie came for me while this was going on. Drawing my axe, I felt the runes infuse me with strength. This fight was going to be more beneficial than I thought. Rather than charge recklessly, I allowed the construct to try and strike me.

On the other side of the courtyard, Guiche, who had been most distraught when he saw the elementals literally devour his creations, saw a dim light of hope. Maybe he thought that this pathetic construct could take me out.

Ha ha. No.

I smirked as the bronze hammer smashed against my Shield, materializing just before the strike was going to hit. Thanks to an item I acquired, I had the spell active at all times. The Scarab of Aradros is among the most powerful items that my group ever found on our adventures.

"Good effort," I commented. It wasn't much of a consolation as I sliced my battle-axe through its neck, beheading it.

The fop was panicking now. Using the last of the petals on the wand, he conjured three more Valkyries, but they were shoddy compared to the others. The elementals leaped upon them before they could react, and feasted upon the remains.

Guiche started to back up, until he was pressed against a tree. Seeing an opportunity, I threw my axe. Spinning head over haft, it embedded itself in the bark just above the noble's head, with the handle less than a few millimeters from touching his nose.

He slowly sunk to the ground and cried out, "I-I yield!"

I noted with some disgust that he did indeed soil himself. Well, at least I keep promises.

No one in the audience spoke a word. From their expressions, saying that they were surprised was an understatement. The "commoner" just finished kicking around a noble. Using magic. Louise was doing a very good impression of a fish. The red-head from the summoning, though, was giving me a look that mildly disturbed me.

Siesta, though shocked, seemed to be angry, and she stormed off. I sighed. I'd have to talk to her later.

"One thing before I finish," I said as I walked towards him. He looked up fearfully at me, "FROST CROTCH!" I yelled as I shot a Ray of Frost straight at his groin.

Guiche yelped and started rolling around on the ground, clutching his manhood. Most of the males in the audience covered their own in sympathy pain. That should teach him to keep it in his trousers.

**A/N: Alright, I take back what I said at the end of the Prologue. This chapter was way more fun to write. I liked the part where Louise was dreaming about one of Auren's previous missions, which was actually part of our campaign. Although, truth be told, I did embellish that part a bit. Lyall was the character of a friend of mine, and you can find that friend here on Fanfiction. He's Crimsonblade11. Review please, and go check out some of his stories if you haven't already.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alright, I'm back with the next chapter of A Wizard Among Sorcerers. Sorry it took nearly a month to do this, but my winter break was a little busy. And by busy, I mean that my X-Box got un-imploded by way of getting a new one.**

**Here are the answers to a few questions about Auren: **

**First, he's level 18. Wizard 6/ Navigator Wizard 10/ Archmage 2**

**Second, he was created using the Pathfinder Rules, but we played 3.5. I will post his stats at the end of the chapter.**

**Third, he can use both versions of the wish spell, but I'm not going to spoil anything.**

Chapter 2

Elsewhere…

Colbert stared dumbly at the crystal ball. His jaw, if it had been physically possible, would have hit the floor. The Headmaster, however, merely stroked his beard, his expression displaying one of his few "lucid" moments. His normally jovial senile persona had shifted to a calm calculating one.

"Professor Colbert, I believe that this familiar will be much different than what you thought," Old Osmond remarked quietly.

"He utterly defeated the Gramont boy with magic. Magic! And a single spell at that. And what were those creatures? They were no golems." The teacher shuddered, "Golems don't act like that."

"They were Spirits. Living manifestations of the element of Earth," Osmond's tone remained neutral, "The child was beaten with his own element and some of our land's holiest beings to boot."

"Spirits?! You're saying that Miss Valliere's familiar can command divine Spirits?!" Poor Colbert was almost at his wits end.

Both went still instantly as the man in question looked straight at them through the crystal ball and smirked. Osmond's gaze never left the stranger, so he barely noticed the thud in the background as Colbert fainted.

* * *

I suppressed a smirk as Louise numbly walked into the room and sat down in an empty chair. I probably didn't have to, considering that she wasn't taking in much of her surroundings at the moment. When I found her, she was rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the courtyard. Frankly, that was the same reaction that a lot of the noble brats had. It was quite understandable, considering that I had just broken their preconceptions of the society that they lived in. Imagine it, a commoner performing magic.

I was somewhat saddened when I couldn't find Siesta, though. I had to go and physically lead my little "master" back to her own room, which to my surprise I managed to successfully find again. Give me a break. I know I'm a navigator wizard, but I work on ships, not land.

After she was seated, I sat down in my own chair and waited for her to speak. Minutes went by, and I found myself tapping my foot.

When twenty minutes went by and not a single word was spoken, I decided to do something to rectify that. Rummaging through my bag of holding, I pulled out a bottle and a small glass. I popped the cork out of the bottle and filled the cup halfway.

Then I stood up, tilted Louise's head back, and opened her mouth. And promptly dumped a shot of Elven Firewine down her throat.

_That_ got her attention.

She almost flew out of her chair, beating her chest and doing a decent reenactment of a cat coughing up a hairball. The mini mage started in on a slew of curses that a girl of her social standing shouldn't even know, before she started flopping about like a fish.

Finding this endlessly amusing and not wanting any of my wine to go to waste, I poured myself a bit of Firewine and downed it in a single gulp, soon feeling a familiar burning sensation in the pit of my stomach. There is a reason that this stuff is called "Firewine," and not just because it's delightfully flammable.

Louise finally managed to reduce her frantic motions to a fit of coughing, "What the hell was that?"

"Elven Firewine," I answered simply, "You weren't doing anything, so I figured that you needed a kick in the rear."

"E-Elven?" She sputtered, "How did you get that?"

"It's not that difficult. Elves are quite common in my world," I shrugged, "One of my companions was a half-elf, and he knew where to get some."

When her face went pale, I remembered that elves were a lot more powerful and feared in this world. I'm used to the forest-dancing fey. I poured myself another shot of Firewine, "Now, I believe that you had something to speak of other than this fine drink?"

Louise calmed down almost immediately, her response almost sullen and dejected, "I thought you were a commoner. Of course I'd summon someone who can do magic better than me…"

I raised an eyebrow, "I am one. I was born a commoner and raised as such."

"B-But you used m-magic!" She almost shouted in my face, as hers started to go red.

"Yes I did. I know that your world has mages as being nobility, but that is not the way of my people," I paused, "Besides, unlike you and your kind, I was not born with my magic."

"Not born with it?" Louise asked, confusion evident on her face, "What do you mean?"

I nodded, "In my world, there are two types of mages: sorcerers and wizards. Sorcerers are mages born with an innate talent for manipulating arcane energy, such that it is almost instinct to do so," I can't help but smirk, "Wizards, on the other hand, are regular people that achieve the same power through disciplining their minds, harnessing arcane power through mathematical calculations and applied theory. You and all of your nobles are what we would consider the former. I am among the latter." I paused, "Well, actually, there are a few other kinds, but sorcerers and wizards are the strongest."

"So the sorcerers of your world are superior mages?" My "master" tilted her head to one side.

"Not quite. Both have their strengths and weaknesses." I scratched my chin, "The most glaring difference is how they learn. Sorcerers are more akin to artists, creating based on whim and inspiration. Thus, it is impossible to teach sorcery, as each one has a different way of casting their spells that work for them." I leaned back into my chair, "Wizardry, however, is very regimented. It has to be, otherwise, our spells would simply blow up in our faces or do nothing at all. The entirety of the wizard community is academic in nature."

I paused and winced, "However, the study of magic can consume the mind, and many go mad. One of my party's deadliest foes was an insane sorcerer."

"Have you?" Louise asked tentatively.

I barked out a laugh, "There are people that would say that, but when you are fighting in a desperate war, you take all the help that is offered."

"So you were a mercenary?"

I shook my head, "No, I've been a soldier of the Shield Lands since the age of eighteen. I didn't start in active duty until after I turned twenty-seven, nearly four years ago. Training to become a battle-mage is a lengthy process. That's why they are far and few between in my homeland."

"You're thirty-one?" She looked puzzled, "I thought you were younger."

"Blame magic. The same artifact that deadened my ability to feel pain also slowed down my aging, though by how much I do not know. It happened the same year I started in active service. I haven't grown any older since," I shrugged at Louise's curious, yet horrified expression, "That's what you get when you start poking at necromantic obelisks." Probably shouldn't mention that my heart doesn't beat. Man, those obelisks really did a number on me, didn't they? At least I'm not rotting.

My flippant reply stunned her for a moment, which she shook off quickly, "Who was Wakunis?"

I froze, not expecting the random question, "How do you know that name?"

"I-I…" She stopped to halt her stuttering, but her hands still fidgeted. I guessed that it wasn't something that she was planning on talking to me about, but just slipped any way, "I had a dream last night. Of you and a group fighting a man named Wakunis. Your party, I guess."

"Aye," I relaxed, "We called ourselves the Wolf Pack, mostly because of how frequently we were found by monstrous wolves, later because we all had cloaks made from wolf hide. At first we were an advanced reconnaissance unit, and then after repeated successes, we moved on to become an elite commando group. We would perform specialized missions behind enemy lines. Hit and run mostly, but sometimes we had to retrieve a lost artifact or retake a strategically important position."

"Like the Spellpool?"

I sighed, "So that was the one you saw. Not one of our most pleasant missions, but yes, that was one such case." I poured myself a double helping of Firewine. I was going to need it, "We were assigned to either retake or destroy the Spellpool, to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. It was the treasure and power source for our Shield Mages, one of the most powerful factions in the Shield Lands before the invasion."

"Even though the island it sat on was occupied by the enemy, we didn't have to worry about it because of the wards on the tower housing it. However, the repeated bombardment by enemy spellcasters and siege weaponry caused them to weaken. We had less than a day before they fell completely," I noted that Louise had quietly sat back down in her chair and listened intently. Lyall always did say I was a good story teller, "So the Wolf Pack was dispatched to take care of it, with the help of a Shield Mage. You probably saw him, his name was Gregory."

"I thought you said that the Shield Mages had been wiped out?"

"It's mostly true. Gregory was still an apprentice when the followers of Iuz began targeting the Shield Mage towers and their inhabitants," I felt my eyes drop to the floor. Even though I had been no more than a wailing babe in those days, I still mourned for my home's irrecoverable loss. I continued with my voice hushed, "We lost much old knowledge with the fall of the towers. When they took the stronghold that housed the Spellpool, the remaining mages were cut off from it as soon as the barrier went up, causing even more casualties. By then, all that was left were a few Shield Mages and their apprentices left, and they scattered to the four winds."

"By the time I met him, Gregory was a powerful abjurer in his own right, and a much more powerful wizard than me. He had managed to infiltrate the island by disguising himself as a pirate allied with our enemies. With his help, we completed our objective without losing any of our unit," my expression darkened, "Except for Agatha." I managed a wry smile, "You know, that was not our first encounter with Wakunis. The previous one did not end as well as the one you saw."

Louise cocked her head to one side, "How so?"

"We died," I said simply, and watched with some amusement as the expression of disbelief formed on her face. I counted down. Three…two…one.

"WHAT?!" My "master" was starting to get predictable in her responses.

I winced and picked at my left ear with my little finger, "You know, you are really shrill when you freak out. I'm fairly sure you just cracked the window and a few of my teeth." I met her eyes, "Where I come from, death isn't always permanent. And-" I held up a finger before she could freak out even more, "I am no undead monstrosity. There are benefits to having deities pay close attention to your civilization, resurrection being one of them. With enough prayer and offerings, usually monetary, the dead can be brought back, unless they seriously offended the patron deity or there are outstanding circumstances. However, before you ask, no I cannot bring the dead back to life. Or at least not how you would want them. Only some of the most powerful priests can. Mages can only animate the corpses, not breathe true life into them."

"Besides, raising people is expensive and exhausting. That applies to both the dead and children. I have experience with the latter from raising my siblings."

"You have siblings? What happened to your parents?" I couldn't fault her for asking the question, I did kind of leave it hanging.

"I have a brother and sister, both younger than me by about seven years. Their names are Alice and Nathaniel, twins to boot. Last I saw them, Alice was starting training in the army, and Nathaniel on his apprenticeship with the Arcanist's Society," I sighed as I downed another shot. I was starting to feel the effects of the potent drink, "My parents were killed during the retaking of Critwall, in the temple district. They were soldiers in the main army, the heavy infantry. I was in the siege camp outside the city when it happened. I was seventeen at the time, and my siblings were ten. After that, we lived in the refugee camps for nearly a year before I started my training and was able to arrange living quarters for my remaining family."

"It's also the reason I hated Wakunis so much. I didn't find out until years later that he was responsible for the massacre that claimed my parents' lives and those of their battalion. He had taken two more people from me. The first was my grandfather, during the fall. He was a paladin, a holy warrior if you will, and a Knight of Holy Shielding." I let out a dark chuckle, "A retired paladin, I might add. He was in his seventies. He knocked my father out and drop-kicked him into the boat before single-handedly standing down Wakunis and about twenty-five orcs, giving us time to escape." I smirked, "He carved his way through the orcs in seconds, only to be cut down by the sorcerer. I was seven and my mother was pregnant with my siblings."

I patted the axe at my side, "This was his. I managed to find it a few years ago on the body of an orc." I frowned, "We never found his armor though."

"If your grandfather was a knight, why did you say that you were a commoner?"

I snorted, "Because he never accepted the noble title. Actually, he outright refused it. He was one of the stereotypical self-sacrificial knights, "out to serve the people, not himself." He wanted his family to earn what they got and be ready to throw it all away, just as he did. He still got indignant when I pulled at his beard hairs, though."

I smiled a little when Louise laughed before she could stop herself. After that dreary tale, the mood needed to lighten a little bit.

"Well, that's enough about me. Let's start on you," I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as her face fell.

"Well, you already know my name. I am from the Valliere family, one of the most prestigious and powerful noble families in Tristain," Louise started tentatively, "My mother is Karin the Heavy Wind, a Square-class mage and the former commander of the Manticore Knights. I have two sisters, Cattleya and Eleanor, both older than me. My father is the Duke de Valliere."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've noticed that mages in this world seem to add titles onto their names. Why is that?" I was honestly curious. In Oerth, you didn't do that unless you had the power or ego to back it up.

She seemed almost relieved to get off of the subject of her history, "The titles, as you put them, are their runic names. Most mages have them, and it generally serves as an indicator of their abilities or power. My mother is a Square-class Wind mage, and her runic name is the same as her most powerful spell."

I tapped my chin and tried to think up one for myself. I gave up after five seconds. My abilities are too broad for a single title to apply. I am a generalist wizard after all, though I do favor evocation…

"So then, what's yours?" I asked.

Oops. The depressed look came back. She muttered, "The Zero."

There was definitely a story behind that one, "Dare I ask why?"

And that was exactly the wrong thing to say to her, as her face turned red and she shouted, "BECAUSE I CAN'T DO MAGIC!"

I jerked back into my seat, sending it onto its back legs. I hadn't been expecting that response, "At all?"

Louise had suddenly remembered who she was talking to and had quickly schooled her temper, and answered with a shake of the head.

"I find that illogical," I replied in what Lyall referred to as my "trying to sound as mysterious as possible" tone, "Your summoning ritual is magic, right?" Nod, "And you called me, did you not?" Another nod. She was starting to see where I was going with this, "Then obviously, you are at least capable of performing magic on some level."

That seemed to perk her up a bit, but then she deflated just as fast, "But all I can do is make explosions. Try to levitate? Boom. Translation spell? Boom. You get the picture."

"Hmm…" I thought for a moment, "That sounds like what happens when my spellcasting gets disrupted."

"Disrupted spellcasting?"

I gave her a playful scowl, "You try successfully casting a spell while five orcs are trying really hard to plant their axes in your face." I shook my head, "Anyway, that's just a baseless guess, since I have no idea how your magic works. You mentioned 'Square-class' mages?"

"There are four tiers of mages: dot, line, triangle, and square. Dot mages are the lowest and can only manipulate one element. Guiche was a dot earth mage. Each subsequent rank shows how many other elements that the mage can mix into the first," Louise seemed happy that she could teach me about something instead of me being so superior. So long as she didn't get too uppity, I would allow it.

"Only four tiers? Huh, strange. So a square-class mage is someone who can combine the three other elements into their affinity?" A quick nod from my "master," and I continued, "You only have four basic elements? Fire, Water, Earth, and Air?"

No, there is also Void, but that was lost long ago. Why do you ask?" She queried, perplexed.

"We have seven. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Positive, Negative, and Force. We also have nine tiers of spells, although technically we have eleven if you count High Magic and cantrips," As I continued my explanation, I noted with amusement that Louise's eyes got bigger and bigger, "Positive deals with the energy of life itself, while negative energy powers the undead. They counter each other. Positive heals the living and damages the undead, while the reverse is true for negative. Force is kind of self-explanatory."

The petite mage stared blankly at me for a few moments. For a minute, I thought I broke her, "Your system of magic is way more complicated than ours."

"Not really, it's just more expansive. There are things we can't do, like combine elements. Arcane energy isn't as malleable as your "mana" is," I admitted, "Though there are some spells that incorporate more than one element, but only in special cases. A lot of spells don't have an element at all." I scratched at my nose with one finger, "And, ah, it can be taught to anyone with the proper mental faculties."

Louise froze. Her head turned towards me slowly and full of jerks, as though it were moved by gears, "What? Why didn't you say that EARLIER?!" She leapt across the table, as though to strangle me. I simply leaned back, causing her to miss and crash onto the floor.

"I did say it earlier, but you were a bit stunned at the fact that I could do magic at all to really notice," I looked away indignantly, "It's not my fault."

"Familiar. As your master, I command you to teach me!" The pinkette demanded.

"First," I held up a finger, "My name is Auren. A. U. R. E. N. Not "familiar." Second," Another finger joined the first, "What's the magic word?"

What happened next was arguably the creepiest sight I have ever witnessed. Louise went from trembling with rage and indignity to perfectly calm, and with a wide smile to boot. I swear I saw fangs as she smiled.

Then she simply raised her wand and said, "Fireball."

Unfortunately for me, my Ring of Counterspelling only functions if a spell has been loaded into it and Louise's earlier bout of anger caused me to use it. However, I still had a contingency in place, set to activate if a harmful spell was aimed at me and the ring was exhausted. So Spell Turning popped into place just before the explosion would have gone off and bounced the spell right back at her.

I shook my head and sighed as she let out a confused squawk just before the spell hit her. I simply refilled my glass as she went flying across the room, "You really should have learned by now, Louise. I have a counter for everything. Except for witty puns, that's Lyall's department."

When I heard no response, I looked up, to find her in a crumpled heap against what used to be her dresser. The shot glass dropped from my grasp as I rushed over and started looking her over for wounds. I'm no medic, but I know how the body works. There was blood leaking from her head and cuts all over, not to mention numerous splinters.

I stifled a curse before rifling through my bag for a potion. I hadn't been expecting that. At first, I judged her explosions only deadly enough to cause some minor to moderate property damage. Clearly I had been wrong. I quickly force fed her a Curing potion and watched as the wounds started to close by themselves. Making sure that the head injury stopped bleeding, I carefully picked her up and placed her on her bed, not caring that the blood that she had already lost was staining the covers. She wouldn't die from blood loss thanks to the potion, but as I said earlier, I am no medic and I had no experience with binding wounds.

I quickly cast a message spell, sending it to the only person that I really knew here at the academy other than Louise.

_Siesta. I need help with Louise, she's injured. Don't care what kind of grudge you have against me, but I need your help. Her room._

I really wish I could have gone into more detail but there was a twenty-five word limit on that particular spell.

Apparently, the maid had been quite close by as there was a knock on the door not three minutes later. I hurriedly opened it and ushered her in. Once she saw the room, she looked from the bloodied Louise, to the broken dresser, and then to me with an accusing glare on her face. Otherwise, she did not say a word.

I shook my head, "Just help me, then I'll explain. Both this and earlier."

Siesta looked at me for a moment before giving a hesitant nod.

* * *

Thankfully, Louise woke up barely twenty minutes later and was thoroughly confused as to why there were bandages on her. She turned a questioning look to me, with Siesta mimicking the expression.

"Your spell rebounded off of one of my protective wards and hurled you across the room," I pointed at the dresser, "into that. Incidentally, "Fireball" was not the magic word I was looking for."

"Why do you have wards on you at all?" She asked, blatantly ignoring my quip, "Nothing is going to attack you here."

I raised an eyebrow, "Other than my summoner, you mean? Plenty can happen. Assassins coming for my throat in the night, demons assaulting the castle, or invasions. That particular ward was a contingency, set to go off whenever offensive action of a magical nature is taken against me. I have four others prepared to deal with other situations." Kaj stirred and woke up. How in the Nine Hells he slept through the commotion I will probably never know. I fed him a piece of jerky before continuing, "If I didn't, I would never have lived this long."

Louise looked down sheepishly, "So I guess you won't teach me, especially after what I just did."

I sighed, for what seemed like the hundredth time this afternoon, as I gave her a hard look. Change her looks and gender, and she would be exactly like a younger Nathaniel. Both were impulsive, brash, stubborn, and felt entitled to what they wanted because of who they were related to. But they were also both good kids at heart.

Shaking my head, I spoke again, "No, I've changed my mind. I'll teach you my magic." I looked to Siesta, "You can join us as well, if you wish."

The maid blinked, obviously surprised, "What?"

When I explained what I had told Louise less than an hour beforehand, she calmly nodded her head and accepted. The subdued reaction puzzled me before Siesta fell out of her chair in a dead faint.

After I made sure that the maid wasn't hurt as well, I sat her up in the chair and turned to face my "master."

"I will warn you, I've had a lot of students, but only one apprentice. If you can compare to him, then I'll accept you as a wizard," I declared with a feral grin, "My job as your teacher will be to make your life a living hell while you are under my tutelage. You will read until your eyes feel as though they are about to pop out of their sockets. I will pound spells and knowledge into your head until it bursts. I will break and remake you. Years will pass by without your notice. In the end, you will have the power to shake this world to its core and wander the planes as you see fit. Any questions?"

As I concluded my little spiel, I saw a look of dread spread across her face, but it quickly reformed into one of determination, "Just one. When do we start?"

I felt my smile grow wider, "Tomorrow night. I still want you to keep up with your regular classes. Tell Siesta when she wakes up." I pushed myself out of the chair and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Into town. I need to get some supplies if I'm going to do this. I'll see if I can't requisition a lab from the school later," When I reached from the door handle, I was interrupted again. I swiveled my head to listen.

"There was something I forgot to mention. Tomorrow is the talent show, where mages show off their newly summoned familiars. The Princess is going to be there," Louise said, her voice muffled as she hid behind the covers. I could still see that her face was completely red.

"And you want me to show off, is that it?" I chuckled as she "eeped." She was expecting me to outright refuse, "Very well. But for now, get some rest. It's been a busy morning." I walked out and closed the door behind me with a soft click.

I felt the grin on my face grow to near supernatural proportions as I thought about my current situation. Maybe this world won't be so bad after all.

**A/N: Alright, all done. It's a bit shorter than my other chapters, but that just seemed like a good place to stop. Sorry about the lack of significant gut-wrenching action, but I'm trying not to rush the story. Hope you enjoyed it. Review please! And as promised earlier, here are his stats.**

**Name: Auren Janten**

**Age: 31**

**Gender: Male**

**Race: Human (Oeridian)**

**Homeland: Shield Lands**

**Alignment: Lawful Good (Originally True Neutral)**

**Deity: Murlynd**

**Height: 5'9"**

**Weight: 160 lbs.**

**Hair: Brown**

**Eyes: Hazel**

**Str: 12**

**Dex: 14**

**Con: 16**

**Int: 25**

**Wis: 12**

**Cha: 12**

**Fortitude: +11**

**Reflex: +10**

**Will: +17**

**Languages known: Common, Terran, Ignan, Aquan, Auren, Draconic, Elven, Dwaven, Orcish**

**Feats:**

**Spell Focus (Evocation)**

**Spell Focus (Enchantment)**

**Spell Mastery (Magic Missile, Obscuring Mist, Fly, Halt Undead)**

**Craft Wonderous Items**

**Leadership**

**Practiced Spellcaster**

**Skill Focus (Spellcraft)**

**Affiliation Bonus feat: Sudden Empower**

**Spells per day: Spells Known:**

**0: 4 7**

**1: 5 18**

**2: 5 15**

**3: 5 18**

**4: 5 16**

**5: 5 11**

**6: 4 7**

**7: 4 5**

**8: 3 4**

**9: 2 4**

**In case you are interested, I calculated the number of pages all of his spells take up. Each spell is one page per level of the spell. He knows a total of 105 spells. 323 pages in all.**


End file.
